Thanks to the budding number of badass culinarians who have chosen Wilmington as their homebase, our humble Port City has grown from an old-school seafood town to a mini food mecca. From chefs who transform ordinary cuts of fish into vibrant plated masterpieces, to others who flawlessly revamp standard bar food into elegant pub grub, there’s no shortage of wizardry taking place in Wilmington kitchens. They rock it out at their restaurants on a daily basis, but (lucky for us) come together once a year to show off their skills by dishing out one exclusive specialty for all of us to devour … as we wash it down with copious amounts of wine, of course.

Impatience and hunger got the best of me last week as I went out on assignment to get a little preview on what folks will taste (and judge) on Saturday (bonus: the fest also will feature hundreds of wines, plus bourbons and craft brews). I decided to bump brains and appetites with a handful of participating chefs to get the inside scoop…

THE DISH: Chef Andrew Stanley (above) will dish out some tasty grub at this year’s Wilmington Wine and Food Fest. Courtesy photo.

Chef Andrew StanleyWaterman’s Brewing 1610 Pavilion Place

encore (e): What’s the name of the dish you’ll be preparing for the festival?

e: Is this crostini signature to your cooking style, or does it represent the vibe at Waterman’s—or both?

AS: The dish is both a signature to my cooking and the vibe at Waterman’s in that it will go great with a beer on the porch.

e: How do you come up with innovative recipes? What inspires you?

AS: From everywhere—cookbooks and food magazines (old and new) are great. Food photography is a huge inspiration. As much as I like reading, I love looking at pictures; they bring out ideas from who knows where.

Food television has come so far in the last decade, and it is great just to sink into the couch after work and veg out watching it.

A lot of inspiration comes from childhood memories of food, even junk food, and putting a personal twist on things people already know so well.

e: What makes the duck-ham crostini trendy in today’s food world (if at all)? Or is it more of a throwback?

AS: It’s more of a throw-back to that great salty ham you had as a kid, on a cracker with a slice of cheddar cheese (or Cheese Whiz), sliced apples, and chips. With a little refinement, it might put it with current food trends.

e: Is the dish more signature to your cooking style, or does it represent the vibe at BBB—or both?

JD: The dish represents all of the above (me, [owner] Vivian [Howard] and Benny’s). When talking about Benny’s concept and the menu, arancini was something we always thought fit perfectly with what and who we are. Although, you won’t find it on the daily menu, we do often offer it as an off-menu special, and change it seasonally depending on what we can get from local farmers.

e: How do you come up with innovative recipes? What inspires you?

JD: I like to find inspiration from anything and everything. For Benny’s, a lot of that comes from my Italian roots. I like to take classic Italian-American dishes and put a modern spin on them.

Another form of inspiration is looking at industry trends. I like to take cool and interesting ideas and make them our own. Local farmers and artisans are always at the forefront of how and why I create a dish. I love seeing what our farmers have and finding ways to fit them into our menu. I will oftentimes have the start of the dish, and when a farmer comes in with something new and cool, it finishes my thought.

e: What makes the arancini trendy in today’s food world (if at all)? Or is it more of a throwback?

JD: I feel it is both trendy and a throwback. Arancini is nothing new; it’s always been a classic. Nduja has definitely been one of the more trendy items in recent years, with the comeback of butcher shops and charcuterie/salumi programs at restaurants.

e: What element of it do you think people will go nuts for?

JD: I think people will love the crispy exterior, with the soft, rich and spicy center, all of this being tied together with the creaminess of the whipped ricotta. Hopefully, people will “go nuts” for the whole dish.

Encore Magazine regularly covers topics pertaining to news, arts, entertainment, food, and city life in Wilmington. It also maintains schedules and listings of local events like concerts, festivals, live performance art and think-tank events. Encore Magazine is an entity of H&P Media, which also powers Wilmington’s local ticketing platform, 910tix.com. Print and online editions are updated every Wednesday.